Specialists in the Prevention and Management of Aggression and Violence
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This course has been designed to enable staff faced with the imminent threat of violence or a violent assault which can not be avoided any other way, to employ physical defences which buy time for them to escape. Incorporating a comprehensive explanation of UK Common and Criminal Law regarding assault and defence, Health and Safety perspective and Human Rights obligations, this course delivers robust risk-control for the employer.
Breakaway and Disengagement Tactics
(1 Day)
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, your staff will have successfully completed all the necessary learning outcomes for the award of an Edexcel-accredited and NFPS-approved certificate of competency.
Staff who successfully complete this course will understand:
•Investigate Reasonable Force in relation to using force at work
•Explore The Human Rights Act 1998 and how it applies to physical defence.
•Examine the requirements of Health and Safety statute and associated Regulations and show how they apply to physical defence.
•Evaluate the risks associated with physical defence and explore how to minimise risks.
•Differentiate between methods of assault and defence and how to apply defences.
•Techniques will be taught in line with current research in this field and will be:
1. Minimal in number,
2. Easy to learn, execute and recall,
3. Consistent with an individuals rights contained in common and statute law,
4. Tailored to the physiological and psychological differences of men and women.
5. Taught as part of a hierarchical risk control system
•Explore the risks associated with alcohol and drugs, knives and other forms of edged weapons in relation to the use of physical defence.
•Investigate the difference between effective breakaway strategies and less effective strategies and why this is so.
Other Information
Our 3-Day Physical Intervention course is here.
Our 2-Day Care and Control course is here.
Staff often fail to reproduce their classroom-learned breakaway skills in operational contexts.
This is highlighted in the results of a study conducted by Dickens and Rogers in 2009, entitled: "An audit on the use of Breakaway Techniques in a large psychiatric hospital: a replication study"
"Perhaps...in the heightened state of arousal caused by a real assault people would use any techniques that would work at the time. Our finding that 80% of participants managed to break away successfully without using the taught techniques does give credence to this, suggesting that breakaway methods that centre on natural instinct as opposed to highly technical manoevres are likely to be recalled more successfully"
Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 2009, 16
Unfortunately, much teaching in Breakaway relies on:
-an “in control” mindset in uncontrolled or uncontrollable moments
-complex motions which require multiple bio-mechanical shifts to be effective
-cognition, in moments where the ‘reactive brain’ has executive function
-perfect performance of static skills, in unknown and unknowable contexts
Physical training must acknowledge these issues - understanding natural human behaviour, incorporating an understanding of confrontation stress on physical performance and utilitising movements which work with the natural tendencies of the body.
It is our belief that the best tactics are those developed from an analysis of basic human physiology - they are then retained more readily and are closer to hand when the trainee needs them the most. Our commitment to this belief ensures that our physical training has the greatest degree of relevancy when it is most needed.
